Jay Macdonald

Thank you Chair. With respect to this additional funding, one of the things that we determined was that we needed to support the various heritage centres to be able to plan to undertake any type of capital enhancements to their facilities. So in addition to the typical operational funding that we have been providing to them prior to receiving this additional funding, we've provided each of them with what we refer to as infrastructure planning funding.

So that's intended to support them, to help them come to us or to the federal government with a clear sense of what their needs are. So each of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think where the Minister was going was that because the department and education bodies, as well as the teachers association, as partners are all embarking on the curriculum renewal, that transition is, as you can imagine, very comprehensive and is taking everybody a great deal of effort. You know, things like training of staff, you know, changing systems, records management. It touches on every aspect of a system, including inclusive schooling. So, really, what we're trying to do is get that moved along to such a point that then once we're fully shifted toward...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So the small community employment item is a mandate item for this Assembly. So with that in mind, there is an interdepartmental working group that works to pull together information from each of the departments about what they have been doing, what they're doing now, as well as to look at what can be done better going forward. So part of that work is inventorying of programs. There's been the development of a new resource to provide to communities about the various opportunities that exist across government, as well as mapping to look at programs and how they can be...

Okay, I'm just looking through my notes if you have a second.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As of now, that change that data would be a little bit too new to be able to report. That change was only announced in January. But in terms of the current breakdown, there are 298 registered apprentices in the territory. Of these, 44 percent are Indigenous and 6 percent are women. So that 6 percent is what that change to the program is meant to address, to try to increase that percentage. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I really appreciate the opportunity. I do have a list of recipients for that funding. I can read a couple of examples perhaps for the Member's benefit, but it may be best to provide a list in writing.

So some examples, you know, Arctic Canada construction, Fort Simpson Housing Authority, Inuvialuit Development Corporation. So it really is a fairly comprehensive and wideranging list of Indigenous governments and organizations, private sector, across the territory. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe for the 2021 year for Skills Canada, we provided them $91,000. That was a little bit more than our typical allocation. We provided some additional federal funding to them during that year. So the difference is just going back to the typical amount. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So when it comes to literacy funding, ECE generally tends to utilize that through contribution agreements to third party partners. So there are an array of those across the territory. I'll use the literacy council has an example.

So sometimes that funding is for delivery of or development of resource for literacy. Sometimes it's for delivery of training, things of that nature. So there are a host of different ways in which we utilize those dollars. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So to specifically answer the Member's questions, the early learning and childcare funding and the Indigenous languages funding are distinct. So a licensed program offering childcare would not be accessing the types of programs and services offered for Indigenous languages. But with that being said, as the Minister mentioned, the existing early learning and childcare funding that the department has includes funding grants for cultural and language programming as well as other activities such as training. And there is what's known as an early learning framework which is...

Thank you, Madam Chair. To be honest, not a huge amount of interdepartmental work on that issue has occurred in the past but it is an area of opportunity.

One of the things that the Indigenous Languages and Education Secretariat has done of late is establish a new committee across government with all departments. So Indigenous language coordinators in each department now have a form to meet regularly with ILE staff, share information, provide feedback on initiatives, and to move the needle forward in terms of the ability of departments and agencies to provide services. Thank you, Madam Chair.